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Metro
Introduction With the Pune Metropolitan Region touching the population::50 lakh mark, the Pune Municipal Corporation has been proposing a Metro system for catering to the growing traffic. Basis for Metro Report by DMRC Several studies have been commissioned by the Pune Municipal Corporation in order to ascertain whether the Metro system is justified. The current proposal is based on the DMRC report (see references below). Traffic Forecast for the Proposed Metro Rail Project in Pune Metropolitan Area In preparing this report DMRC in turn had appointed Transportation Systems Engineering Group of IIT Bombay to perform the traffic study for estimating ridership on the potential Metro corridors (see reference below). Criticism While Metro is a Public Transport system and hence preferable to private motorized vehicles the main argument against it is its high cost of construction and operation which leads to many other considerations. Absence of Data Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning and transport engineering. It is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days. AADT is a useful and simple measurement of how busy the road is. It is also sometimes reported as "average annual daily traffic". In the USA the most important use of the AADT is for determining the amount of federal funding a state will receive. Each year on June 15, every state in the United States submits a Highway Performance Monitoring System HPMS report. The HPMS report contains various information regarding the road segments in the state and only contains a sample size (not all of the road segments) of the road segments. In the report, the AADT is converted to Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). VMT is the AADT multiplied by the length of the road segment. To determine the amount of traffic a state has, the AADT cannot be summed for all road segments since an AADT is a rate. The VMT is summed and is used as an indicator of the amount of traffic a state has. For federal-funding, formulas are applied to include the VMT and other highway statistics. To measure AADT on individual road segments, traffic data is collected either by an automated traffic counter or hiring an observer to record traffic. There are two different techniques of measuring the AADTs for road segments. One technique is called continuous count data collection method. This is where sensors are permanently embedded into a road and traffic data is measured all 365 days. The AADT would be the sum of the total traffic for the entire year divided by 365 days. There is a problem with calculating the AADT with this method. The continuous count equipment is not operating for the full 365 days due to being shut down for maintenance or repair. A better calculation method is to average the daily traffic for each of the 12 months - MADT Monthly Average Daily Traffic - and take the average of the MADTs. This method is outlined in the Traffic Monitoring Guidehttp://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tmguide/tmg2.htm#Computing%20AADT. The continuous count method is costly. There are monthly maintenance fees involved and it is expensive to install and purchase the sensors. It can cost money to power the sensors if it is connected to the local power grid. It can cost money to maintain the communication connection whether it is a phone line or an IP address. The alternative or second technique is called the short count data collection method also known as the coverage count data collection method. The AADT can be estimated with portable sensors that are attached to the road and record traffic data typically for 2 – 14 days. These are typically pneumatic road tubes although other more expensive technology such as radar, laser, or sonar exist. After recording the traffic data, the traffic counts on the same road segment are taken again in another three years. FHWA Traffic Monitoring Guide http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tmguide/tmg3.htm#hpmsvolume recommends to perform a short count on a road segment at a minimum of every three years. After collecting the data with a portable traffic counter, the data is converted into an ADT - Average Daily Traffic. This would represent the average day of traffic for the month the data was recorded. Seeing traffic varies throughout the year, with it generally being low in the winter months and high during the summer months, the AADT is estimated by removing this seasonal bias by multiplying the ADT by the Monthly Seasonal Adjustment Factor. Short counts are taken either by state agencies, local government, or contractors. For the years when a traffic count is not recording, the AADT is estimated by applying a factor called the Growth Factor. Growth Factors are statistically determined from historical data of the road segment. If there is no historical data, Growth Factors from similar road segments are used. There is no AADT available for Pune. Absence of Public Participation Another key criticism has been the absence of any public debate on the project. Citizens have demanded that information regarding the project should be disseminated and inputs, opinions and suggestions invited from both civic groups and independent experts. Letter written to the Mayor asking for clarification on many issues as well as demanding public debate on the Metro project - Cost Delhi Metro which has completed 65 km of its Phase I was built at a cost of Rs 10571 crores or 160 crores per km. Underground Metro is likely to cost 220 crores per km. Effectiveness to De-congest Pune High costs will limit the Metro network which will thus not meet the needs of most commuters in the city and who will continue to use private vehicles or the existing bus system Alternate Modes Many argue that for a substantially lower cost one can * get a highly efficient and top class basic city bus service which will more than adequately meet the needs of the city * bus enhancement techniques - ranging from bus priority lanes all the way to Bus Rapid Transit can boost carrying capacity, efficiency and reliability of bus based public transport Jaime Lerner, the erstwhile Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil is considered the pioneer of modern Bus Rapid Transit. He pursued the idea of BRT as an alternative to Metro, which was very expensive. See a film at Streetfilms that covers this topic. BRT can be a better option A simple comparison of BRT and Metro rP1Zx9ZbUhFoNQ3c79p9lTw Environmental Concerns Chapter 10 of the report says that "about 685 mature trees are likely to be lost". Each tree is valued at Rs 1200 thus estimating the total loss in Rupee terms at 8.22 lakhs. Puneites, already suffering from rapid destruction of green cover are likely to see this loss as being much more in value. In Bangalore thousands of trees have been put to the axe as this IBN Live news clip shows. Financing Pune, which has an annual budget of Rs 2000 crores (without the JNNURM grants) will be taking on a large project for which it will have to raise revenue. Loans will lead to increased taxation for Puneites in the future. In any case with the city still unable to provide basic infrastructure such as water, sewage treatment, primary education and health care and processing of solid waste, the financial burden of Metro will have to be rationalized. The PMC is currently proposing the sale of extra FSI to raise the money for Metro. See proposal below. 4 FSI Proposal for Financing The PMC proposes to make: * 4 FSI allowed within 500m of Metro corridor and 200m of BRT corridor * FSI over and above what is currently allowed (which depends of whether congested area or not and other additions allowed) will be paid FSI * Rate as per 50% of Ready Reckoner value * 20% of funds raised will be used for upgrading infrastructure * Remaining to be used for financing Metro This is only likely to congest the city more. What is the logic of increasing people to make the solution to decongest viable? What the Civic Groups Say Several civic groups and individuals have raised an alarm over this proposal. FSI Dr. Uday Kulkarni says that the proposal does not give the rationale nor the effect such an FSI will have on Pune. The DPR says (see Chapter 12) that of the total project cost of Rs 9500 crore rupees, 94% will be raised by government equity, soft long term loan from Japan International Co op Agency , some Govt subordinate debt (again at a low rate of interest. The balance 6% (about 600 crore) is to be raised by property development at Metro stations. The paid FSI therefore has no real connection to the project cost. Congesting Pune Further, the additional paid FSI along Metro corridors alone is expected to generate an amount of Rs 19807 crore over a 20 year period (according to the DPR). The amount that will be generated along 120 km of BRT is likely to be similar if not higher. This huge amount is not required for setting up or running the Metro. The amount of new built up area generated from the entire proposal could be nearly 800 million square feet. This can add a population of about 2.5 million along the corridors in areas that are already densely populated. Costs to the City The DPR has shown how the Metro can make a profit from the very first year if some of the paid FSI funds are shown as revenue for the Metro. In this manner a profit of Rs 1400 crore in the first four years after 2014 has been taken IF an amount of Rs 2000 crore is used from the paid FSI as the Metro's income. The cost estimates are considered grossly underestimated. The ridership and traffic forecasts are arbitrary. Route The DMRC report has no rational of why the route has been chosen. It fails to explain the linkage of this route to the integrated traffic plan for the city. There is no unified Pune Transportation Plan. The selection of the corridors (especially the one running parallel to the railway track)is unexplained. Underground or overground The metro overground competes with BRTS and PMPML bus routes- this is against all traffic planning principles. Technology The DMRC Report has been studied in great detail by Mr. Rane of the Indian Railways and several questions have been raised regarding # The justification for Standard Gauge instead of Broad Gauge which is deemed to be much cheaper and also based on indigenous technology # The fact that the two corridors which seem to intersect at ASI actually are not physically connected with one line being elevated and the other underground! # Various other technical issues Refer to the report by V.K.J Rane, IRSE (Retd.) in the references below. Political Parties Speak The 4 FSI Proposal PUNE: The Congress party members in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) opposed the 4 Floor Space Index (FSI) proposal along the Metro rail route on the grounds that the added population density will burden the infrastructure. Congress party leader in the PMC Aba Bagul told reporters on Thursday that they are not against the Metro project, but are of the view that funds can be raised from other sources and additional FSI is not necessary. Events to create Public Participation * Thu, 13th May 2010 Public Debate at Nivara Petitions * Petition against increase of FSI in the city * Objections by citizens Media Reports The local media has reported on the opposition by local civic groups. * Sakal सकाळ * Times of India * Sakal Times * DNA * Congress against 4 FSI proposal * No Metro like this, Intelligent Pune, May 7th 2010 * Demystifying the Pune Metro, Intelligent Pune * Is the DMRC report a cut-and-paste job? May 11, 2010 Pune Mirror * City kids took Metro’s first step, May 12, 2010 Pune Mirror * Oh Shift, May 13, 2010 Pune Mirror * Hidden costs of the Pune metro, May 13, 2010 Pune Mirror 4_fsi_toi_5may09.gif|Times of India Report - 5th May 2009]] 4_fsi_sakaltimes_5may09.gif|Sakal Times - 5th May 2009]] 4_fsi_dna_5may09.gif|DNA Report - 5th May 2009]] References #DMRC Report on Metro for Pune ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## # # # Metro in a nutshell by Prashant Inamdar # Metro in detail Prashant Inamdar # 4 FSI Proposal 4_fsi_proposal_pg1.jpg|4 FSI Proposal - page 1 4_fsi_proposal_pg2.jpg|4 FSI Proposal - page 2 4_fsi_proposal_pg3.jpg|4 FSI Proposal - page 3 4_fsi_proposal_pg4.jpg|4 FSI Proposal - page 4 Data Standard Links * Florida * New York State - Traffic Data Viewer - interactive map program graphically displays traffic data * Oklahoma * Virginia * FHWA Traffic Monitoring Guide Category:Public Transport Category:Projects Category:Pune Projects Category:Pune Issues Projects